University chancellor Datuk Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali said besides responsibility to their family and society, graduates were also responsible for the country's development.

"Graduates must always work hard to ensure they play a continuous role towards the development and prosperity of Malaysia.

"They should possess characteristics like honesty, trustworthiness and sincerity so that they can become effective future leaders," she said in her speech at the university's fourth convocation here today.

Also present were Energy, Telecommunications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Amar Leo Moggie, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Telekom Malaysia Berhad chairman Datuk Muhd Radzi Mansor and university president Dr Ghauth Jasmon.

Dr Siti Hasmah said to become a leader, one must be brave, mature and possess good vision besides always having new ideas.

"I am sure the graduates from this university possess such qualities and this needs to be harnessed further for them to excel," she said.

At the convocation, honorary doctorates of Science were awarded to Leo Moggie and NTT Group chief executive counsellor Junichiro Miyazu.

NTT Communication Corporation vice-president Satoshi Fujita accepted the award on behalf of Junichiro.

A total of 2,824 undergraduates and post-graduates received their scrolls this year.

Dr Siti Hasmah said the recent war in Iraq spelt greater worries to the world and had far-reaching economic consequences.

She said a superpower had acted against the wishes of a majority of nations by taking military action against Iraq, a country which had already been suffering.

"These sad events will surely haunt humanity for a long time.

"Important lessons that lack of tolerance and mutual understanding on race or religion can spell danger to humanity must be learnt," she said.

Meanwhile, Leo Moggie, in his acceptance speech reminded graduates that getting their degrees was just the beginning stage of their lives.

He said they should continue to strive for knowledge, as learning was a never-ending process.

The minister added that the Multimedia Super Corridor provided a new area of growth and graduates should look into ways of contributing to its development.